Mumbai: The Indian Writer’s New York

“Bangalore may be a kinetic technology hub teeming with expatriates and bright young Indians, Calcutta a decaying dowager brimming with a million stories, and Delhi the capital where power meets noir.

“But cosmopolitan, energetic and chaotic Mumbai, where the rich live cheek-by-jowl with the poor, is the city where the story-tellers from Rushdie to Kiran Nagarkar to Joseph are turning for inspiration and fodder.

“‘Of late, Mumbai seems to have definitely taken over [in the number of stories being told]. It’s like the city is teeming with stories just waiting to be picked up. Or maybe it’s do with the number of immigrant writers who’ve made it their home and as new immigrants, are constantly taking stock of their new environment,’ says VK Karthika, chief editor of Harper Collins, which published Serious Men in India.”